Read Eye on Climate Change on pp. 254–255 and then describe the government actions that could decrease carbon emissions. Explain why the government is not taking these actions more aggressively.

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EYE on CLIMATE CHANGE How Can We Limit Carbon Emissions? The Problem The Earth's temperature is rising and so is the amount of carbon dioxide, CO₂, in the atmosphere. Figure I shows these trends. The scientific con- sensus is that human economic activity is their major source. Figure 2 shows that China, the United States, and Europe create 54 percent of carbon emissions and another eight large emitters create a further 25 percent. On current trends, by 2050, three quarters of carbon emissions will come from developing economies and by 2100, the temperature will have increased by 3°C to a level that brings extreme weather and widespread coastal flooding. Economist Nicholas Stern, princi- pal author of The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, says that carbon emission is "the greatest mar- ket failure the world has ever seen," and to avoid the risk of catastrophic climate change, the upward CO₂ trend must be stopped. Most economists agree with Stern and favor action. Coping with the Problem A global problem requires global action, and the first steps in this direction were taken at a 2015 United Nations climate change conference in Paris where 197 countries agreed to 1. Limit greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that can be absorbed naturally, be- ginning as early as possible between 2050 and 2100. Global temperature (degrees Celcius deviation from 1961-1990 average) 0.8. 0.6. 0.4. 0.2 0 -0.2.... -0.4 All others 21% Brazil 2% Canada 2% Saudi Arabia 2% Iran 2% South Korea 2% Japan 4% Global temperature Russia 5% tryl -0.6 · 1880 1895 1910 1925 1940 1955 1970 1985 2000 Figure I Temperature and CO₂ SOURCES OF DATA: Met Office Hadley Centre and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. India 6% CO₂ concentration (parts per million) 420 Даднашк Global CO₂ concentration Europe 13% Figure 2 The Global Distribution of CO₂ Emissions SOURCES OF DATA: Energy Information Administration. China 25% United States 16% 395 370 • 345 320 295 270 2015 Tear